Put the Pen to the Paper!

BE AMERICAN; REALLY! WHY EXPRESSING ETHNIC PRIDE IS THE REAL AMERICA

“We are not everyone else, we are us.”

In the United States, we always tell people to stop qualifying themselves by these different ethnic groups. But in my opinion, we are this country because of our ambiguous racial makeup. We say stuff like, “Drop that you’re from wherever crap, you’re American.” But just observe the history of America. We are strong as a country because we have the best of the different parts of the world. Name another country where you have so many different countries that makeup an entire nation like us. And the fact that we live in this country harmoniously says a lot about our nation. And what do I mean by racial ambiguity?

Look at a city like New York for example. During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there was an immigration wave from various parts of the globe. People flocked into Ellis Island from Italy, Sicily, Poland, Ireland, and various bother parts of Europe. People who worked to build this city, and soon after other groups flocked to New York. The Puerto Ricans, Dominicans after, and African Americans from the south flocked to the Northeast. Everyone brought with them something from their group that was great. It’s what contributes to the flavor of New York City. Now what about other parts of the United States? In Chicago, on St. Patricks Day, the Irish dye the river green.

It’s because of the previous passage that we are a great nation. If we tried being like everyone else, it would hurt this country. Why because of our ambiguity ethnically. Meaning, most countries have one religion, one ethnic group, and one language. We have one language, but many dialects, a major religion, but many sects of it, and many different ethnic groups. So being American is not like being China, India, Russia, France, or Nigeria. But we have each of these places in America. And each place has people from them that has contributed something significant to America. Which is why I want people to take pride in who they are as a group. Having a pride in yourself and where you come from is important in building ones’ self-esteem, self-respect, and confidence.

In the end, having an American identity is showing your love for your culture. I think when people hear ethnic identity, they automatically think racial segregation or hate for someone else. And that’s not true, you can take pride in your identity and also respect other people in the process.